Should Sloan be playing Fisher?

[Reality]

anything other then off the bench limited minutes?
Swisher is 2 for 16, 0-5 treys.
With his daughter having serious  surgery, it has to effect him.

Fisher adds, "Collectively, we need to cut into that field goal percentage. That's hard to recover from."
Recovering from a harrowing medical emergency involving his 10-month-old daughter Tatum hasn't been easy, either.

Fisher missed Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors series to fly to New York, where Tatum underwent surgery to remove a tumor between her eye and brain.

He returned two days later, made a dramatic entrance in the third quarter and nailed a three-pointer late in overtime to help the Jazz win Game 2.

Fisher hit 13 of his last 21 shots in the final two games of that series, but has cooled considerably against the Spurs. "It's just part of the business," he says.

[msc]

Fish has always been a very streaky shooter.  At least he was in LA, I haven't followed him as closely on subsequent teams. 

Of course, as a Spurs fan, it's undersandable why you would think he never has off shooting nights   

[Reality]

Fish has always been a very streaky shooter.  At least he was in LA, I haven't followed him as closely on subsequent teams. 

He hasn't had back to back shooting games this sucky the entire 14 Utah playoff games.
Or 80 regular season games.

[Lurker]

Fisher isn't playing because of his offensive skills...he is the Jazz best perimeter defender.  It goes back to that old argument, Reality...the game is played on both ends of the court.

[rickortreat]

He's not doing much on the defensive end either.  Fisher is the weakest link for the Jazz, but Sloan doesn't have enough confidence in the other guards to play them instead.

[Reality]

He's not doing much on the defensive end either.  Fisher is the weakest link for the Jazz, but Sloan doesn't have enough confidence in the other guards to play them instead.

No doubt.  Altho Dee Brown is out with the neck deal Sloan has other guard benchees.
Lurker is he slowing down Parker or GNob with his D?

[Lurker]

He's not doing much on the defensive end either.  Fisher is the weakest link for the Jazz, but Sloan doesn't have enough confidence in the other guards to play them instead.

No doubt.  Altho Dee Brown is out with the neck deal Sloan has other guard benchees.
Lurker is he slowing down Parker or GNob with his D?

More than Sloan's other options.  But then that would be lost on someone who thinks Barry should get Finley's minutes.

[msc]

The point of my original post was that I don't think Fish's recent poor shooting performance was necessarily correlated to his daughters current situation.  I'm not trying to discount the magnitude of his daughters condition in any way, but rather point out that Fish is a streaky shooter at best.  I can't speak to his not having back to back poor shooting performances all season.  But in the 6 or so years I watched him play 90+ games per year I can testify that he would downright disappear on offense for games at a time.  Not a knock on him, we all love Fish.  He always hustled, played solid D (at least until his 3 ankle surgeries), and did the little things, but his shooting was never consistent. 

So to answer the question posed, yes, I think Sloan should be playing Fisher. 

[Reality]

More than Sloan's other options. 

 
yes, that explains why the +/- has been so much better for Utah when Fish has been out.

lurker

But then that would be lost on someone who thinks Barry should get Finley's minutes.

When you make it up to Texas PHD status and your studies include 5 syllable words, check out "flexibility".
Far from saying one or the other should always get the minutes like you Pop clones advocate, (well you think Finley not Barry should always get all the minutes).  We've always advocated go with the hot hand between the two.  And then rejoice when both are hot as they were in Gm 2, where Finley was 4-10 overall but 3-6 on treys and Barrdawg 3-4 from downtown.  Hence both played, for a spell at the same time.  Flex-a-bil-i-tee.  Lets scale it down to 3.  Ad-just-ments.

msc

I'm not trying to discount the magnitude of his daughters condition in any way, but rather point out that Fish is a streaky shooter at best.

   You've obviously got more of a history with Fish then most, but i still wonder if the daughters condition is too much for him and thus the shooting woes, again the worst he's had this year.   Guess we shall find out in Gm 3, where Utah (and i assume Fish) have been much much better at home vs road all year including the playoffs.  I'll be happy with a Spurs split, would love them to take Gm 3 and end Utahs hopes.

 

[Lurker]

lurker

But then that would be lost on someone who thinks Barry should get Finley's minutes.

When you make it up to Texas PHD status and your studies include 5 syllable words, check out "flexibility".
Far from saying one or the other should always get the minutes like you Pop clones advocate, (well you think Finley not Barry should always get all the minutes).  We've always advocated go with the hot hand between the two.  And then rejoice when both are hot as they were in Gm 2, where Finley was 4-10 overall but 3-6 on treys and Barrdawg 3-4 from downtown.  Hence both played, for a spell at the same time.  Flex-a-bil-i-tee.  Lets scale it down to 3.  Ad-just-ments.

At least your dancing around is more entertaining than that crap they put on TV.   

[Reality]

At least your dancing around is more entertaining than that crap they put on TV.    

What a Suns like response.

[westkoast]

IMO he has spent alot of energy between the first two rounds and what has been going on with his daughter.  Eventually that catches up with you.  Whether you are 25 or 35.  That rush, that emotion really cools a player down.

Should Sloan be playing Fisher?  Considering he has more playoff expierence then most of the team combined, yes.  His shot is not on but it is the on court leadership and the defense Sloan is more worried about.  Plus, when you have a guy who can hit big shots it makes a difference.  He could go 0-45 but if he hits a game winner everyone forgets very fast.  If I remember correctly (Lurker correct me if I am wrong) Fish was getting pretty badly torched by TP in the Spurs series he hit the .4 shot on the wing.  No one remembers Tony eating Fish up with his foot speed the entire series but everyone remembers the shot he hit.

btw I am in Texass this week in Austin and I am in love with the area...all the damn rain and everything that is out here right now.  Lurker I was going to try to email you to see if you wanted to grab a beer but I ended up having to leave earlier then I wanted to go back to Cali.  Orignally I was going to stay until later in the week when SA was going to be at home playing a playoff game (wanted to try to get tickets) but I have to fly back home Monday morning.  Austin is just such a beautiful place it is hard to go!

[Lurker]

Yes, it has been an extremely rainy May in central/south Texas.  It makes everything look green and lush.  Also fills the rivers & lakes.

Sorry, you didn't have a chance to e-mail me, koast.  We regularly (every couple weekends) make it up to the Austin area.  Only a couple hour drive to central Austin from our house.  Let me know next time you are going to be in Austin.

Back on topic...I agree also on the vet presence on the floor.  It really is the difference in this series.  Basically Utah has 1 vet; Spurs have 7-8 who have gone deep into the playoffs: Duncan, Parker, Manu, Horry, Bowen, Finley, Barry, Vaughn.  And Oberto has played in big games internationally.  It shows in the steadiness the Spurs play with.

[Reality]

  If I remember correctly (Lurker correct me if I am wrong) Fish was getting pretty badly torched by TP in the Spurs series he hit the .4 shot on the wing.  No one remembers Tony eating Fish up with his foot speed the entire series but everyone remembers the shot he hit.

1st 2 wins Parker did well.  3 so-so, 4 well.
Gm 5 Parker was 7-23 before Swishers .4

[westkoast]

Fish played well last night.  He started off missing a few shots and a layup but really made some nice plays after that.  The guy is not the type to get rattled down 0-2 or in any pressure situation.  With the little amount of expierence this squad has (except Deron..he's been possessed by an old vet) you cannot play down what Fish brings to the table. 

He also had an ultra cheap elbow to Bruce Bowen in which the commentators complimented on his 'Nice screening of Bowen'